Tag Archives: mecum

Ferrari Daytona

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1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 15, 2021

Photo – Mecum

Here’s another “blue chip” collector car. The Ferrari Daytona is one of the last “classic” Ferraris, in my opinion. Before things got all boxy. The 365 GTB/4 was styled by Leonardo Fioravanti at Pininfarina – not really a household name, which is a shame because this car is gorgeous.

Ferrari built 1,383 Daytona coupes between 1968 and 1973, and they also made just 122 Spyders, or “GTS/4”s. Power is from a 347-horsepower, 4.4-liter V12. Top speed is 174 mph. This car has six Weber carburetors, a limited-slip differential, Borrani wire wheels, Ansa exhaust, and air conditioning.

The Daytona Spyder is a million-dollar car every day of the week. The Berlinetta version has been creeping up over the years, and this one is estimated between $650,000-$700,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $500,000.

300SL Roadster

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1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 16, 2021

Photo – Mecum

I think we all know at this point that the Mercedes-Benz 300SL is one of the poster children for “collector cars.” The Gullwing coupe version is probably in the dictionary next to the phrase. The roadster was introduced in 1957 when the coupe was discontinued. It would be built through 1963.

Power is from a fuel-injected 3.0-liter inline-six. Output was rated at 240 horsepower when new. Also, keep in mind that fuel injection was no common sight in 1960. Or even 1970. The 300SL was really a landmark car and deserves its reputation as an amazing machine.

With its extended production run, the roadster was more common than the coupe, with 1,858 built. This restored example is finished in Silver Gray Metallic over red leather. It’s good-lookin’ stuff. A little over a decade ago, these were $500,000 cars. They’ve been trading right at about a million dollars now for the last five years or so. This one carries an estimate of $1,100,000-$1,300,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,210,000.

Torino Twister Special

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1970 Ford Torino Cobra Twister Special

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 7-16, 2021

Photo – Mecum

What a great looking car. The 1970 Torino is one of Ford’s styling highpoints of the era. This model year had a dizzying assortment of models, sub-models, trims, body-style, and engine combos. The Torino Cobra was the top sport-level trim, slotting in above the Torino GT. It was available as a two-door Sportsroof fastback only.

The dealers in Ford’s Kansas City sales district were selling a limited edition Twister Special of the Mustang for 1970. Only 96 were ordered. Alongside those, the dealers opted to outfit 90 Torinos with a similar package. Only 30 of those had a four-speed manual transmission like this car has.

Power is from a 7.0-liter (429) Cobra Jet V8 rated at 370 horsepower when new. The Twister Special package added some blacked-out trim and graphics. This car has rear window sport slats and spoilers up front and out back. Fully restored, it’s going to sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $236,500.

Alba GTP

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1984 Alba-Buick AR3

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 7-16, 2021

Photo – Mecum

Giorgio Stirano was an F1 car designer that worked at Osella, where he was chief engineer for a period of time. Later, with a few partners, he founded Alba Engineering. Their first product was a Formula 3 car, and in 1982 they designed their first Group C prototype.

The AR3 was built in 1984, and this is chassis #001. This car was built to race in IMSA GTP, which had a similar ruleset to that of Group C. It features carbon/kevlar bodywork, a turbocharged 4.0-liter Buick V6, and a Hewland gearbox. A bunch of spares accompanies the car, including a 4.5-liter V6.

During the 1984 IMSA GTP season, this car ran a handful of races with drivers Gianpiero Moretti and Fulvio Ballabio behind the wheel, securing four top 10s and a single top five in the process. No pre-sale estimate is available, but you can read more about it here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $125,000.

LaSalle 345B Town Coupe

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1932 LaSalle Series 345B Town Coupe

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 7-17, 2021

LaSalle was Cadillac’s “companion marque,” and it launched in 1927. After Pontiac, it was the most successful marque of GM’s companion program with production continuing through 1940. A 1941 LaSalle mockup was produced but never entered production, and instead, it became the 1941-only Cadillac Series 63.

The brand produced V8-powered cars for the entire run, and styling was certainly derivative of Cadillac’s (or, you know, the same). It was, and looks like, a junior Caddy. The Series 345B was 1932’s model and the successor to 1931’s 345A. It was more or less identical to the V8 Cadillac of the same year. I mean, the differences were extremely subtle. Power is from a 5.8-liter V8 rated at 115 horsepower.

Two wheelbases were offered, and this is the shorter of the two, on which four body styles were available. The five-passenger Town Coupe sold for $2,545 when new (Cadillac’s V8 five-passenger coupe cost an extra $400). Only 3,290 LaSalles were built in 1932, and they did not have as good a survival rate as their Cadillac counterparts. You can read more about this one here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $45,100.

De Tomaso Sport 5000

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1965 De Tomaso Sport 5000

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 7-17, 2021

Photo – Mecum

We’ve previously detailed the long and complicated history of the car that became the De Tomaso P70 aka the Ghia De Tomaso aka some race car that Carroll Shelby, Pete Brock, Medardo Fantuzzi, and Alejandro de Tomaso all had a hand in creating.

After Shelby bailed on the project to go run the GT40 program, Pete Brock sort of lingered around and talked de Tomaso into becoming his North American distributor for the P70 race car, 50 of which were supposed to be built. De Tomaso modified the design of the P70 slightly and built a second car, this one, and called it the Sport 5000.

It’s powered by a 4.7-liter (289) Ford V8 rated at 475 horsepower thanks to aluminum cylinder heads and four Weber carburetors. The car never got its competition career off the ground, only competing in a single race: the 1966 Mugello Grand Prix round of the World Sportscar Championship. But it broke on the first lap with driver Roberto Bussinello behind the wheel.

After that, de Tomaso put this car in storage, where it remained until his passing in 2003. It remains pretty much as-raced (except for whatever broke in 1966). You can read more about it here and see more from Mecum. In Florida. During a pandemic. Here. Good luck.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $600,000.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2022.

’96 Impala SS

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1996 Chevrolet Impala SS

Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Missouri | November 20-21, 2020

Photo – Mecum

This is one of my favorite cars. It will be a car I own in the near future. A little history: the Impala model is a classic dating back to 1958 when it was a sub-model of the Bel Air. It became its own line in 1959, and the glory years lasted through 1970. Things trended downhill beginning in ’71, and the 1977-1985 models killed the Impala nameplate for a decade (though I secretly like this generation).

Then, in 1994, GM revived the Impala SS as a standalone model (even though their VINs decode as a Caprice). It was essentially a Caprice cop car with a bunch of heavy-duty items (suspension, brakes, cooling system), in addition to a Corvette-based 5.7-liter LT1 V8. Power was rated at 260 horsepower.

It was produced only between 1994 and 1996, and 60,768 were built in total. Black was the best color, but Dark Cherry Metallic and Dark Grey Green were also available beginning in 1995. 1996 models are differentiated from earlier cars by having an analog speedometer and a floor shifter for the automatic transmission. They. Are. Awesome. And this one has 12,000 miles. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $19,800.

Grand Prix 2+2

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1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 Richard Petty Edition

Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Missouri | November 20-21, 2020

Photo – Mecum

The Pontiac Grand Prix debuted in 1962 and was produced in seven different generations until they killed off the nameplate in 2008. This example is from the fourth generation, which was produced from 1977 through 1987. The Grand Prix was Pontiac’s NASCAR entry for 1986, so they introduced a homologation variant called the 2+2 (the Chevy version was called the Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe) that essentially had a glass fastback. It was supposed to gain an aerodynamic advantage on track.

The 2+2 was supposed to be equipped with a 5.0-liter V8 making 165 horsepower when new. Mecum lists this car as having a 3.8-liter V6. The 2+2 ended up being a 1986-model-year-only variant. It’s a weird product of the times.

Richard Petty raced a NASCAR version of this car, hence the special edition and “Richard Petty” graphics on the doors. Apparently only 2,000 such examples were produced. This one has some weird options, like radio delete and the addition of air conditioning (why?). Anyway, you can see more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $11,500.

1959 Edsel Corsair

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1959 Edsel Corsair Convertible

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 7-17, 2021

Photo – Mecum

Edsel was only around for three model years, and each year saw fairly different styling. The 1958 cars were the most polarizing, and the 1960 cars are quite pretty but also pretty much forgotten about. The 1959 cars are the most common, and, style-wise, the most mainstream, if you can call them that.

I love them, not as much as the ’58s, but I still find them to be quite stylish cars. Two models were offered in ’59: the Ranger and the Corsair (there were also wagons with different names). The Corsair was the higher-trim level and looked exactly like a Ranger. It just had a bigger engine and some styling/equipment differences. This car is powered by a non-original 5.9-liter V8. The stock 5.4-liter, 225-horsepower V8 is missing.

Only 1,343 Corsair convertibles were produced in 1959, making it the rarest body style for the model year. You can read more about this one here, and see more from Mecum here.

1921 International

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1921 International 101 Stake Bed

Offered by Mecum | Davenport, Iowa | November 19-21, 2020

Photo – Mecum

Somehow this week became “classic commercial vehicle week.” Not sure how that happened. But I do know that it will continue at least through Monday. This is a pretty interesting one. International Harvester was founded in 1902 when McCormick and Deering merged. Agricultural equipment was first, followed by passenger vehicles and heavy trucks.

The International brand is still a leader in the truck business. This was one of their early revolutionary designs. Apparently, the 101 was the first truck that could haul more than its own weight. It’s insane that this took until 1921 to accomplish.

Mecum states that only 27 examples of the 101 were built. They look like Renaults from the front (but many trucks of the era did, and for good reason: it was to protect the radiator by placing it behind the engine so angry Teamsters carriage drivers couldn’t damage the front-mounted radiator). It’s a downright frightening machine. Huge, heavy, and with badass wheels. Power is from a 4.6-liter inline-four good for 29 horsepower. Top speed is 14 mph. I imagine this was used to move big loads small distances. What a beast. Find out more here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $33,000.